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| Wuthering Heights (2011) |
Sep 9 2011 – I remember reading Wuthering Heights in Grade 11 English class (or was it Grade 12). OK I confess, I remember nothing of the book, except for its name and the name of it’s author Emily Brontë. It turns out that this literary masterpiece was written in 1846, and is now in the public domain, meaning anyone can download and read it free of charge. A quick scan of IMDb shows 15 TV and film listings for Wuthering Heights with the first one chronologically dating back to 1920 and the latest one almost a century later in 2011. This proves both the novel’s lasting power and it’s appeal to film audiences.
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| North American Premiere |
The latest revision of the movie is directed by the U.K.’s Andrea Arnold (whose previous movie Fish Tank takes an edgy look at British urban youth and is highly recommended). Tonight was the North American premiere of Wuthering Heights and Arnold commented that it was just finished 8 days ago – “Hot off the press, smoking hot” was how she put it. The world premiere just happened a few days prior at the Venice Film Festival and this movie was nominated for The Golden Lion which is the top prize for best film at that particular festival. It did not win that prize but it take home the best cinematography prize (for Robbie Ryan)
I won’t recap the film’s plot in detail but will briefly mention it deals with forbidden love (between the main characters Heathcliff and Catherine) – forbidden both by issues of race as well as social-economic status. The TIFF press website offers the following overview; “A Yorkshire hill farmer on a visit to Liverpool finds a homeless boy on the streets. He takes him home to live as part of his family on the isolated Yorkshire moors where the boy forges an obsessive relationship with the farmer’s daughter. Starring James Howson and Kaya Scodelario.”
Arnold’s adaptation is incredible in that its stars for the first half are two young actors (Solomon Glave and Shannon Beer) whom are cast in their first role. Their portrayal of the novel’s young protagonists was spectacular and very believable. The second half featured a grown up Kathy and Heatcliff which were portrayed by Kaya Scodelario and yet another first timer James Howson respectively. Both of them played their roles as convincingly as the younger versions of the characters. The movie felt gritty and purposefully uncomfortable to watch at times due to an attempt to faithfully recreate for the first time ever the anguish and suffering presented in the book. No flowing Victorian dresses and cheerful tea time in this adaptation. More than once there were scenes which left the sold out audience squirming in their seats, and often those scenes had a purposeful slow pace which successfully brought the viewer into the tough circumstances of the early 1800’s.
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| Director Andrea Arnold at the North American premiere |
The movie featured incredible cinematography of the geographical location of the movie (which was actually filmed in the area Brontë had set the book in North Yorkshire, England). Transitions between scenes were dreamy and featured closeups’ of various insects, vegetation, or animals of the filming location. The other thing of note is that this adaptation featured very little dialogue or any soundtrack. Minutes would pass and the only sound in the film would be the wind blowing, or doors slamming.
Below are some reactions from film critics on Twitter as they posted them soon after this screening.
After the movie Arnold fielded questions from the audience and the video of that can be seen below. None of the actors were in attendance. Let us know what you think of the film if you get to see it.
I saw the movie as well last night at TIFF. Didn't read the book. Movie took me by surprise -it wasvery well done, excellent cinematography, and character development. Location was interesting and added tremendous depth – so desolate and windy. The young and older Kathy and Heathcliff's were superb choices. Andrea recommended free the movie that you'd need a stiff drink and she was right. The film was very heavy -I am still thinking about it. Highly recommend it!
A stunning film from a brave new director. The definitive version of Wuthering Heights, and a watershed film on many levels.
My only request to Ms. Arnold: please remove the montage sequence and the song from the film's ending! Everything else about it was breathtaking, glorious, and altogether new.
first half of the film was great. but the second half was absolutely torturous.